Mercury labelling of fish products is needed now, says NGOs

By staff reporter, 13-Feb-2009

A
coalition of different environmental organisations, the Zero Mercury Working
Group, claims that there are risks associated with eating fish due to its
mercury content, and consumers need to be made aware of these through fish
and seafood product labelling.

The group maintains
that the proposed European Union regulation for labelling
foodstuffs, currently being considered in the European parliament, should
include advice for vulnerable groups about the mercury
content of fish
and seafood.

As part of its campaign
to call attention to the global human health hazards caused by mercury in
fish, the group has released a report this week that it claims demands an
effective response from governments and the United Nations.

The publication cites
statistics from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the
consumption of fish is the major source of ingestion-related mercury exposure
in humans.

Michael Bender, report
co-author, said that the study indicates that fish tested in different
locations around the world show that internationally accepted exposure levels
for methylmercury are exceeded, often by wide
margins, in each country and area covered.

The European
Environmental Bureau (EEB)ís Elena Lymberidi-Settimo,
who is the zero mercury project coordinator, insists that the labelling of
certain fish products should be instituted without delay.

And she maintains that
all governments should consider the reportís findings and agree on launching
an International Negotiating Committee (INC) to start work immediately on a
global mercury treaty, when they meet at the UN convention on mercury in Nairobi next week.

To protect consumers
against the risks of mercury through consumption, the European Commission
stated in April last year that member states should be provided with all the
relevant information to be able to issue consumer advice and that consumers
are entitled to receive concrete information where possible.

Pregnant women or
women who are breastfeeding are currently advised by global food safety
regulators to avoid eating certain fish that is deemed to be high in mercury
such as swordfish, shark, marlin and pike.